


death sits in the seat next to me

by myskinisgone



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gore, M/M, Multi, Original Characters - Freeform, Sad, im so sorry zach UGH, oof'd, really angsty, uwu angst, you better like this james
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 15:24:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myskinisgone/pseuds/myskinisgone
Summary: June 14th, 2018 was the last Trent saw Zach.





	death sits in the seat next to me

June 14th, 2018 was the last Trent saw Zach.

It wasn't out of the usual for him to not see him for a few hours as he did like to explore, but three days? /Three/ fucking days? Hell no. Foul-play wasn't entirely ruled out, but it was.. highly unlikely. He was beloved by everyone in the county. He had no enemies. The most likely event, in Trent's mind, was that Zach had wandered off into the wilderness while he was playing and gotten lost. The issue was.. Zach would have no fucking clue how to survive on his own, much less the wilderness. He didn't even know how to put his shirt on correctly. He would die from exposure if starvation or dehydration didn't get to him first. 

Practically the whole of the county was searching for Zach. It was blistering out, search parties wearing tank tops and shorts, lathered with plenty of sunscreen. They were all armed with walkie-talkies, phones, and hunting knives in the case of an emergency. They'd started with the valley first, combing through the forest surrounding Trent's house. Nothing was found, not even a trace of him. 

Trent spent that night going through pictures in his scrapbook of Zach. 

~*The camera panned to Zach, who was sitting on the living room floor and staring out the window, watching the cardinals on the bird feeder with eyes full of wonder. "Someone /really/ likes birds." Trent chuckled softly to the camera, Zach hearing him and glancing back. "T!" He squealed, laying back with his arms outstretched for him. Trent laughed joyfully, sitting next to him and pulling him to his chest.*~

Mia was getting restless. It was the fourth day, and she wanted her boyfriend, her best friend back. She would sit at the entrance to his room, babbling and whimpering. She downright refused to sleep anywhere else but Zach's bed, and whenever Travis tried to coax her out she would scream and throw anything in the nearby vicinity at him. At 11 am he fed Mia before going out to help search. 

Yet again, it was a fruitless search. Not even a trace of Zach. No clues, no leads, no nothing. It was almost as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth. His beloved, his sweetheart. His angel. Gone, slipped right through his fingers. 

Trent drank a whole bottle of vodka himself that night.

~*"Happy Birthday!" Cried Trent to a Zach clad in a bright blue party hat that read 'Birthday Boy!' in multicolored letters. Zach squealed and made joyous spit bubbles, eyes bright with naive happiness. Mia was sat next to him, clinging to his arm and kissing his cheek with a dramatic 'mwah'. Zach cried out in delight, leaning into her happily as his legs flailed restlessly. "Open your present, buddy!" Trent nudged a dinosaur print bag to him, Zach turning his attention away from Mia and to the present. He tore through wrapping paper until he pulled out a fluffy blue blanket and dinosaur pajamas. Zach gave a happy cry, jolting to his feet and going off camera for a moment as he squeezed Trent tightly. Trent laughed happily, returning the hug. "I love you too, bud."*~

By the fifth day, people were starting to accuse Trent of foul-play. Trent, bewildered, denied it. Why the hell would he do that to his own fucking husband? He loved Zach more than anything. He was literally the world, the universe to him. He would kill himself for him. 

Mia had started carrying Zach's dinosaur plushie everywhere with her. She was extremely territorial of it, and if Trent even got close to it she would throw a fit and attack him. It was completely out of character for her- she was an absolute sweetheart, kind and quiet. She'd never acted like this before. But Trent decided it would be best to just leave her alone. What good would upsetting her even more do?

When Trent joined the search party that day, he was met with a few suspicious glares from the few who believed he had something to do with Zach's disappearance. Trent just shrugged them off, ignoring it the best he could. But it really was killing him that people actually believed he would do something to harm Zach. That search turned up nothing either, and Trent returned dripping with sweat with a few sunburns on him. They had combed almost all the way through the valley, and were nearing the end of it. Trent had begun to lose hope, but he didn't say it.

That night he drank and sobbed as he went through their old videos together.

~*"Zach! Hey, Zach!" Trent cooed, trying to get Zach's attention. Zach was busying himself by aggressively finger painting, Trent's cooing snapping him out of his intense concentration. Zach gave a huge, toothy grin for the camera, gurgling happily. Trent laughed happily, pulling him close and kissing his paint-smudged forehead. "My big 'ol artist. Zach of all trades!" He teased, Zach nestled under his arm with a contented grin on his face.*~

By the sixth day they had started to search the mountains. Trent took a day off from searching. As much as it pained him, he hadn't slept in four days and had barely eaten anything. He was an absolute mess, and he couldn't go on like this. All he could think about was Zach, Zach, Zach. Was he in danger? Was he hurt? Was he sick? Was he in pain? God, what he would do to switch places with Zach right now. He was probably out in the blistering heat, confused and scared and starving. Or.. worse. But he didn't want to think about that. Zach would be okay. 

He rubbed his temples, groaning tiredly as he started stirring honey into his tea. He decided to go check on Mia while he waited for it to cool down, to see if she needed anything. As he was walking to Zach's room, he passed the attic, nose wrinkling at the smell. Gross. He'd have to get that mold problem checked out. He walked to the room, glancing in. "Mia?" He murmured. She was curled up in his bed, tightly clutching Zach's dino plushie and the blanket they'd gotten him on his last birthday. She tensed up a bit when she saw him, glancing away and hiding her face. Trent shook his head, sighing as he walked over and sat next to her. "Mia, I love you. I know you miss him. We both do." She just glared at the wall, tears in her eyes. She didn't understand where Zach had gone. Trent sighed, shaking his head. "Look, Mia, we're trying everything. We've looked everywh-" 

He paused, freezing up. They /hadn’t/ checked everywhere. No, no. The only place they hadn’t checked thoroughly was the fucking house. Trent swallowed nervously, cold sweat starting to slide down his forehead. As he abruptyly stood up, Mia staring after him in confusion as he walked out stiffly. They didn’t have a mold problem. They’d never even had an issue with any type of mold in the years they’ve lived in that house.

Trent stood in front of the hatch to the attic, swallowing down the building anxiety. It felt just like in horror movies when the protagonists were building up to them finding something, but on a much bigger scale. The atmosphere was suffocating and Trent found himself forgetting how to breath. 

He inhaled sharply as he let down the hatch, a wall of the stench hitting him as he doubled over, gagging and trying not to throw up his stomach’s contents. After a minute of leaning against the wall coughing, he summoned the courage to climb up. As he did he kept attempting to convince himself that it was some sort of bird, or maybe even raccoon, that somehow found its way into the attic and died. He inhaled sharply as he climbed into the attic. It was pitch black, the stench stronger than before. It was a sickly sweet smell, bile finding it’s way up Trent’s throat and into his mouth. 

He fumbled around for a second, before he found the light switch and flipped it on.

As soon as he did, he was greeted with a grisly sight. Trent dropped down to his knees, skin going pale and his eyes huge. A figure was lying flat on the ground, a box on top of his head and upper back. Trent could clearly identify him as Zach by his clothes, curling into himself and holding his own head in his hands as he let out a blood-curdling scream of grief and horror.

He broke out into sobs as he crawled over to him, pushing the box off of him with a heaving gasp. “Zach, Zach, /please/, Zach!” He screamed, desperately grabbing his wrist and checking for a pulse. There was none, his skin cold and clammy, lacking any color. There were scratch marks surrounding the floor where he had been, along with on the sides of the box. He had clearly been alive for an hour or two before he’d died. 

Trent flipped him over, horrified to find that his eye sockets were empty and, in their place, were live maggots. He let out a choked sob, some larva spilling out of Zach’s mouth and nose. He cradled him close in his arms, blood and bodily fluids getting all over his clothes. “Zach, Zach, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry baby. I didn’t fucking know!” He screamed out the last part, slamming his fist against the floor. His guts were exposed, a few intestines stuck to the floor, his ribs jutting out. His face, or what was left of it, was stuck in a permanent state of terror, as if he was screaming while he was dying. Trent kissed all over his face, ignoring the blood and maggots and god knows what else. He just wanted his Zach. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry..” He croaked out, voice dying down to a whisper. 

He cradled his body, eventually just passing out next to it.

~*The camera’s quality was grainy from the darkness of the room, Zach cuddled up under Trent’s arm. Zach glanced at the camera with huge eyes, rubbing his runny nose on Trent’s sleeve. His face was pink and puffy, clearly having been crying before. “It’s 3 am right now. Zach just woke me up because he had a nightmare.” Trent mused softly to the camera, Zach staring up at him anxiously. He sighed pulling him closer and kissing his cheek lovingly. “You’re safe, bud. You’e okay.” He murmured reassuringly, Zach pressed tight against his chest. “Love.” He managed out weakly, Trent smiling and moving to shut off the recording.*~

The conclusion by detectives was that Zach had, against Trent’s rules, ventured into the Attic. He saw something interesting on the top of a few boxes and reached up to grab it. A box fell on him. He survived the initial impact, but died of asphyxiation from the box restricting his airflow after about an hour. The house’s soundproof walls prevented Trent or Mia from hearing any thumping or screaming. It was ruled as a freak accident. He passed in an unimaginably horrifying way. All Trent could think was that Zach must’ve been so scared and been in so much pain while he was dying. He had been all alone. 

He felt that he failed him.

~*”Zach, say it!” Trent cooed encouragingly, Zach sprawled out across his lap. Zach looked like he was struggling, before making a few attempts. “T.. Tre… n..” He mumbled, focused on getting it right. “You got this buddy.” Trent murmured. Mia came into view of the camera, interrupting by trying to show a pretty leaf she found outside, shoving it in Trent’s face. He gently pushed her away. “Not now, Mia.” He chuckled, Mia pouting and running off with her leaf. “Trent!” Zach piped up, Trent’s eyes glowing with pride. “Yes! Oh my god, you did it!” He cried happily, hugging him close. Zach looked accomplished, a huge grin on his face as he held onto him tightly. “Good job, bud!”*~

Trent stood in a small clearing, a little pond in the middle surrounded by daisies. He was clutching a little case, going and sitting on a rock. It was nearly a year after Zach’s death, and his life was permanently negatively effected. Mia had become depressed for some time, though she was slowly getting better through therapy and the healing of time. 

Trent had quit his job for a few months, donations from the community keeping he and Mia fed. He missed the ball of energy that was Zach. He missed the love of his life. Zach was one of the only things that kept him going. Zach was the reason why he woke up in the morning, he was the reason why he fucking tried. And now he was gone.

Trent’s therapist told him he couldn’t keep living in the past. And it was hard, but he was making changes. He had started going out more, and he had gotten a new job. He was getting better. Slowly, but surely.

He looked down to the little container in his hands. They had decided to cremate him. At first he planned on keeping his ashes in a small pendant, but he had finally decided on spreading them in his favorite spot in the woods. A small clearing in the woods, a five minute walk from the house. There was a small pond with a tree next to it, the pond holding a large population of frogs. Trent smiled through tears, remembering all the times he would have to tell Zach to not bring the frogs he caught into the house. All the times he would find Zach asleep under the shade of the tree, his favorite spot to sit and relax.

He kissed the container gently before opening it, walking over before the tree. Tears running down his cheeks and a weak smile on his face, he sprinkled his ashes around the tree. ‘Goodbye, Zach.” He whispered, voice raspy. “I love you. And I always will.” He tucked the container back into his pocket, spending another few moments staring at the ashes around the tree before turning and walking off, a weight feeling lifted off his heart. 

Zach was free.

~*”Show them, Zach!” Trent laughed happily. Zach held up a picture to the camera, eyes bright. It was a crayon doodle of him, Trent, and Mia, sitting next to the pond. Trent set the camera down on the counter, where it could still record. He hugged Zach close, who eagerly squeezed back. “Love.” Zach managed out after a bit of struggle, tears welling up in Trent’s eyes. “Love you more.” He whispered back, Zach breaking out into an even bigger grin of joy. They held that embrace for a couple minutes before Trent finally pulled back, walking to the camera and stopping the recording*~

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed james i spent three days on this rawr ex dee


End file.
